A key aspect of the American legal system (as well as many others around the world) is its reliance on professional advocates, or lawyers, to facilitate adjudication or avoidance of legal disputes. Indeed, one of the constitutional rights that we as Americans cherish most dearly is the right to counsel. Thus, when confronted with a legal issue, one of the first questions that prudent businesses and individuals seek to answer is which attorney or law firm will assist them with expert legal advice and advocacy.
In recent years, many facing this question have sought to use the power of the Internet as a tool in identifying and/or selecting effective counsel for their legal needs. For example, many use general search engines, such as www.Google.com or www.Yahoo.com, to broadly search the World Wide Web for lawyers based on location and particular legal expertise. Others rely on legally focused resources, such as www.findlaw.com which provides and maintains an extensive directory of law firms and legal professionals.
Although both generic and specific resources can be effective in identifying relevant lawyers, the present inventor has recognized there is considerable room for improvement. For example, the current resources lack any objective information regarding the experience of lawyers in specific legal specialties.
Accordingly, the present inventor has identified a need for better ways of searching for lawyers.